The present invention has particular, although not exclusive, use in the application of manure to an agricultural field.
Current methods of swine manure slurry application include broadcast systems which use tanker spreaders or big gun sprinklers for spreading the manure on the surface of a field. These systems result in losses of large quantities of valuable crop nutrients to the air. They also cause significant odour problems. In consequence, some injection systems have been developed, for example the system described in Barbour et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,992, issued Dec. 28, 1993, to Greentrac Limited.
The injector systems are themselves prone to certain problems, generally caused by the nature of the slurry being delivered. These include non-uniform distribution of slurry to the various injectors. Solid waste storage cells can contain pig hair and other foreign materials such as plastics, as well as large amounts of odour-control straw. Consequently, the distribution manifold must be capable of handling these solids without plugging the distribution ports.
The present invention is concerned with the provision of a slurry distribution manifold that ameliorates this problem.